“As hard as farewells can be, new beginnings can be very auspicious are as well,” commented ELUVEITIE in a mutual statement. “We are thrilled to introduce to you Meri’s successor. We consider ourselves lucky to have found a true master of Celtic Folk fiddling! A full-blooded musician and violin player through and through, she has played countless shows over many years and also played as a session musician for many well-known acts (such as THE HOOTERS, for instance). During the last ten years she further made a name for herself through her engagement with the Irish folk rock bands PADDY GOES TO HOLYHEAD and ACROSS THE BORDER, but also the renowned medieval/classical metal act HAGGARD. Not only a virtuoso of the fiddle, she also plays the 7-stringed violin as well as the cello! So, ladies and gentlemen – please welcome to the ELUVEITIE camp: Nicole Ansperger!”

Added Ansperger:
“Dear ELUVEITIE fans, I am absolutely delighted to be ELUVEITIE’s new violin player. I love ELUVEITIE’s music and have been a fan myself for a long time. Is there anything better than getting to play for the band you love? I am looking forward to many sweat-inducing, incredible shows with you and the band. See you on stage!”

Sabaton and Eluveitie

@ HMV Forum, London

9th November 2012

Review by Rhiannon Marley

Whether you think of Sabaton as pioneers of modern power metal or a bunch of self-confessed ‘Village People in combats’, the fact is, they’re bloody good fun. Flying high with 2012’s Carolus Rex after a renowned post-recording line-up change, the belligerent Swedes are hitting the HMV Forum tonight in force – and from what I’ve heard, in FLAMES…Read the rest of this entry »

Swiss new wave of folk metal pioneers ELUVEITIE recently checked in from their current UK tour to give this exciting update:

“We cannot wait to be back in North America in support of our two latest releases, for the first time headlining with material from our recent concept album! To celebrate this occasion, we have decided to treat our North American fans to a very special show. One that we in fact have only performed once before. Besides a selection of our all-time hits, we will be playing the full album Helvetios from beginning to end, live on stage, every night!”

Tickets are going fast so make sure you get yours in time! Purchase links can be found in the touring section on www.eluveitie.ch. Also included on the bill are Finnish epic metallers WINTERSUN (who just celebrated worldwide charts success with their long-awaited release Time I) and the German Folk Metal heroes from VARG.

ELUVEITIE, WINTERSUN, VARG

11/28/12 910 Live – Tempe, AZ

11/29/12 House of Blues – Hollywood, CA

11/30/12 Oakland Metro – Oakland, CA

12/01/12 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR

12/02/12 El Corazon – Seattle, WA

12/03/12 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC – CANADA

12/05/12 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB – CANADA

12/06/12 Republik – Calgary, AB – CANADA

12/07/12 Louis’ Pub – Saskatoon, SK – CANADA

12/08/12 West End Cultural Centre – Winnipeg, MB – CANADA

12/09/12 Station 4 – Saint Paul, MN

12/11/12 Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL

12/12/12 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH

12/13/12 The Opera House – Toronto, ON – CANADA

12/14/12 Mavericks – Ottawa, ON – CANADA

12/15/12 Club Soda – Montreal, QC – CANADA

12/16/12 Imperial – Quebec City, QC – CANADA

12/18/12 Water Street Music Hall (at The Club) – Rochester, NY

12/19/12 Mr. Small’s Theatre – Millvale, PA

12/20/12 Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY

12/21/12 Royale Boston – Boston, MA

ELUVEITIE released The Early Years, a collection of re-rerecorded and re-mastered early material, on September 25th.

ELUVEITIEscanned 4,242 copies of their latest album Helvetios in its first week of sales in the United States according to Nielson Soundscan. Helvetios came in at #143 on the US Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Heatseekers chart, making it their highest charting record yet! ELUVEITIE also cracked the Canadian Top 200 coming in at #73!Helvetioswas released on February 28 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.

Swiss new wave of folk metal pioneers ELUVEITIE and Finnish epic metallers WINTERSUN, will co-headline a North American tour this Winter! The trek will commemorate ELUVEITIE’s 10th anniversary as well as serve as WINTERSUN’s introduction to North American shores. This momentous event will also include the German pagan metal band VARG.

“We are very excited to tour US and Canada for the first time in November/December, ” commented WINTERSUN mstermind Jari Mäenpää. “We´ve had lots of requests from the fans before, but finally we are able to come there and kick some ass with new material from the Time I album and of course play the old stuff too! Hope to see you guys there. Let´s make it special!”

Wintersun

ELUVEITIE, WINTERSUN, VARG

11/28/12 910 Live – Tempe, AZ

11/29/12 The Roxy Theater – Hollywood, CA

11/30/12 Oakland Metro – Oakland, CA

12/01/12 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR

12/02/12 El Corazon – Seattle, WA

12/03/12 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC – CANADA

12/05/12 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB – CANADA

12/06/12 Republik – Calgary, AB – CANADA

12/07/12 Louis’ Pub – Saskatoon, SK – CANADA

12/08/12 West End Cultural Centre – Winnipeg, MB – CANADA

12/09/12 Station 4 – Saint Paul, MN

12/11/12 Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL

12/12/12 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH

12/13/12 The Opera House – Toronto, ON – CANADA

12/14/12 Mavericks – Ottawa, ON – CANADA

12/15/12 Club Soda – Montreal, QC – CANADA

12/16/12 Imperial – Quebec City, QC – CANADA

12/18/12 Water Street Music Hall (at The Club) – Rochester, NY

12/19/12 Mr. Small’s Theatre – Millvale, PA

12/20/12 Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY

12/21/12 Royale Boston – Boston, MA

ELUVEITIE will release The Early Years, a collection of re-rerecorded and re-mastered early material, via Nuclear Blast Records on August 17th (Europe) and September 25th (North America).

ELUVEITIEscanned 4,242 copies of their latest album Helvetios in its first week of sales in the United States according to Nielson Soundscan. Helvetios came in at #143 on the US Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Heatseekers chart, making it their highest charting record yet! ELUVEITIE also cracked the Canadian Top 200 coming in at #73!Helvetioswas released on February 28 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.

WINTERSUN’s long awaited new album Time I will be released October 12 (Europe) and October 22, 2012 (North America) via Nuclear Blast.

Eluveitie Interview

with Vocalist/Hurdy-Gurdy player Anna Murphy

Interview by Victoria Fenbane

Swiss melodic folk death metallers Eluveitie have been bringing us their unique sound for 10 years. Early in 2012 they released the truly epic album ‘Helvetios’, in which their distinctive style of metal fused with traditional instruments was taken to new heights. As if this wasn’t enough for avid fans, to celebrate their anniversary, Eluveitie have just released a 2-CD Digipak entitled ‘The Early Years’, consisting of an entirely re-recorded version of their first EP ‘Vên’ plus a completely re-mastered version of their debut album ‘Spirit’.

We had a chat with vocalist and hurdy-gurdy player Anna Murphy about her unusual choice of instrument, singing in dead languages and their upcoming comprehensive nine date tour of the UK and Ireland supporting Sabaton.

2012 marks the 10th anniversary of Swiss New Wave Of Folk Metal pioneers ELUVEITIE! To commemorate the occasion properly, the band has decided to re-record the Vên EP completely and to re-master their debut album, Spirit, in order to put these two sought-after collector’s items into one 2CD-bundle. This magnificent gift to the fans is entitled The Early Years and will be released via Nuclear Blast Records on August 17th (Europe) and September 25th (North America).

As a teaser, the band has uploaded a lyric video for the re-mastered version of the track “Your Gaulish War” from Spirit, which can be enjoyed here:

ELUVEITIEscanned 4,242 copies of their latest album Helvetios in its first week of sales in the United States according to Nielson Soundscan. Helvetios came in at #143 on the US Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Heatseekers chart, making it their highest charting record yet! ELUVEITIE also cracked the Canadian Top 200 coming in at #73! Helvetios was released on February 28 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.

SWITZERLAND – Swiss founder of the “New Wave Of Folk Metal” will sweeten your summer with a new CD package over the course of its 10th anniversary! Following the release of its brilliant fifth studio album, Helvetios, in February 2012, it’s time to take a big step into the band’s past with the release of a 2-CD-Digipak-bundle, The Early Years, on August 28th via Nuclear Blast. The collection will consist of the band’s sought-after debut album, Spirit, plus a completely re-recorded version of the band’s very first EP “Vên,” which is currently being laid down together with producer, Tommy Vetterli, in his Newsound Studio.

Frontman, Chrigel Glanzmann, states: “‘The Early Years’ will give both old and new fans access to the very first steps in Eluveitie’s history. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already! Speaking of that, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (2002-2012) we wanted to offer you something special. Therefore we have decided to re-record the tracks of our first EP ’Vên’! We had a lot of fun putting those songs on tape again – some of which we have been playing live to this day and that have developed together with us over all these years.”

Swiss new wave of folk metal icons, ELUVEITIE, have scanned 4,242 copies of their new album Helvetios in its first week of sales in the United States according to Nielson Soundscan. Helvetios came in at #143 on the US Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Heatseekers chart, making it their highest charting record yet! ELUVEITIE also cracked the Canadian Top 200 coming in at #73! Helvetios was released on February 28 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records.

ELUVEITIE recently wrapped up a tour of the US and Canada as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

Check out the band’s latest music videos“A Rose For Epona” and “Havoc” taken from their Helvetios album. The clips were produced by Polish production company Grupa13 (BEHEMOTH, AMON AMARTH).

Helvetios is a concept album about the gaulish war (58-50 B.C.), the story of the war being told in a chronological timeline. Check out mainman Chrigel explaining the concept behind Helvetios:

Swiss new wave of folk metal sensations ELUVEITIE have released a short documentary chronically the making of their official video clip for the song “A Rose For Epona”. The song was taken from the bands highly anticipated upcoming release Helvetios. The music video was produced by the Polish company Grupa13 who had worked with the band on the clip for “Thousandfold” from the last album Everything Remains… As It Never Was. The production company has also worked with such bands as BEHEMOTH and AMON AMARTH before. Check out the clip:

Helvetios will be released on February 10 (Europe) and February 28 (North America) 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

Helvetios is a concept album about the gaulish war (58-50 B.C.), the story of the war being told in a chronological timeline. Check out Chrigel explaining the concept behind Helvetios here:

ELUVEITIE will unleash its fourth studio album in the midst of the North American portion of the band’s Helvetios World Tour. ELUVEITIE will take the stage in the US and Canada this winter as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

ELUVEITIE recently released the official video clip for the song “A Rose For Epona”. The video was produced by the Polish company Grupa13 who had worked with the band on the clip for “Thousandfold” from the last album Everything Remains… As It Never Was. The production company has also worked with such bands as BEHEMOTH and AMON AMARTH before. Check out the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1lXdLus2WI

Helvetios will be released on February 10 (Europe) and February 28 (North America) 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

Helvetios is a concept album about the gaulish war (58-50 B.C.), the story of the war being told in a chronological timeline. Check out Chrigel explaining the concept behind Helvetios here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wau6MEbCvo

ELUVEITIE will unleash its fourth studio album in the midst of the North American portion of the band’s Helvetios World Tour. ELUVEITIE will take the stage in the US and Canada this winter as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

Swiss new wave of folk metal sensations ELUVEITIE have released the official video clip for the song “A Rose For Epona”, taken from the bands upcoming release Helvetios. The video was produced by the Polish company Grupa13 who had worked with the band on the clip for “Thousandfold” from the last album Everything Remains… As It Never Was. The production company has also worked with such bands as BEHEMOTH and AMON AMARTH before.

ELUVEITIE

Check out the clip:

Helvetios will be released on February 10 (Europe) and February 28 (North America) 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

Helvetios is a concept album about the gaulish war (58-50 B.C.), the story of the war being told in a chronological timeline. Check out Chrigel explaining the concept behind Helvetios here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wau6MEbCvo

ELUVEITIE will unleash its fourth studio album in the midst of the North American portion of the band’s Helvetios World Tour. ELUVEITIE will take the stage in the US and Canada this winter as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

Swiss folk metal horde ELUVEITIE just released a brand new song off the bands upcoming album, Helvetios, as a X-Mas present for their fans! Visit www.facebook.com/eluveitie to check out the track “Meet The Enemy”!

It tells you about the ‘encounter’ the Helvetians had with the roman legions in the year 58 BC – one of the crucial points in their history, for it was basically when the gaulish wars erupted.

So the song is pretty much filled with wrath and rage – upholding the furious spirit you might know from tracks such as “Kingdom Come Undone”, ‘Bloodstained Ground’ or ‘Lament’.

Furthermore the song’s substantial instrumentation (including fiddle, hurdy gurdy, whistles and uilleann pipes) is also enriched by one of the guest musicians, we had the honor to work with – Fredy Schnyder (from NUCLEUS TORN) who contributed some amazing parts on the hammered dulcimer.

Helvetios will be released on February 10 (Europe) and February 28 (North America) 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

ELUVEITIE will unleash its fourth studio album in the midst of the North American portion of the band’s Helvetios World Tour. ELUVEITIE will take the stage in the US and Canada this winter as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

Helvetios will be released on February 10 (Europe) and February 28 (North America) 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

ELUVEITIE will unleash its fourth studio album in the midst of the North American portion of the band’s Helvetios World Tour. ELUVEITIE will take the stage in the US and Canada this winter as direct support to the mighty CHILDREN OF BODOM on their 15th Anniversary tour.

Swiss melodic-folk-death-metallers, ELUVEITIE, has just launched a brand new and completely redesigned website and has taken the occasion to announce the title and production status of their upcoming album Helvetios. Commented the band:

“We have made good use of the time between the shows of our Everything Remains World Tour and are therefore able to announce that as of today, September 1st, Merlin has begun drum tracking for our new album titled Helvetios at Newsound Studios in Pfäffikon, Switzerland. We are again working with Tommy Vetterli (CORONER, ex-KREATOR) who will record drums, guitars and vocals and will also be producing and mixing the record this time around. Most folk instruments and vocals will be recorded by Anna Murphy & Marco Jencarelli at the Soundfarm studios in Lucerne.

All that’s left to say for now is that we are extremely excited about the new material, and we cannot wait for the release in early 2012. Further updates will appear regularly on this site, both in news as well as in a studio blog in which the bandmembers themselves will keep you up to date.”

ELUVEITIE’slatest album, Everything Remains As It Never Was, scanned approximately 1600 copies in it’s first week of release in the United States. The CD landed at position No. 23 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

Everything Remains As It Never Was is the follow up to the bands successful acoustic/folk release Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion. Everything Remains As It Never Was features the band back again in full metal swing. The album was recorded by Tommy Vetterli (CORONER) and mixed by Colin Richardson (SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, KREATOR, BEHEMOTH, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE etc.).